Espn has it on their website so im pretty sure its true... Nutting did deny ... 17 years and counting... Wooo

01-31-2010, 10:56 AM

LarryNJ

From what I understand the Pirates are making over $10 million a year in profits. It's a cash cow and the value of the team will probably continue to grow. So why would Nutting sell it? I'd have to guess that the newspaper business isn't doing that well. I think it won't be long before MLB makes them spend some of that revenue sharing money they are getting and than they won't be turning a profit. Than we'll see if he changes his mind.

01-31-2010, 01:03 PM

75Steeler

Nutting needs to get off his *** and do something. We have a football team with a winning history and a hockey team with a winning history and a baseball team with a history of losing. Pittsburgh deserves better than that.

01-31-2010, 01:35 PM

kgreen

Quote:

Originally Posted by 75Steeler

Nutting needs to get off his *** and do something. We have a football team with a winning history and a hockey team with a winning history and a baseball team with a history of losing. Pittsburgh deserves better than that.

Yeah but the Pirates history is actually very good pre-90's. They have won at least 5 World Series Titles. They just haven't been relevant in 17 years or so.

PITTSBURGH — That a Forbes magazine editor recently blogged about Bob Nutting preparing to put the Pirates up for sale, perhaps by the end of the year, comes as no surprise to those inside baseball.
As far back as the 2008 World Series, two sources indicated that Nutting was not in the baseball business for the long haul. One of those sources worked in Major League Baseball’s central office and the other was with the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Neither would let me use their name for attribution, but I can assure you neither one is a crackpot. They have very detailed knowledge of the workings of the business.
When word leaked in January that Penguins owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux made an offer to buy the Pirates last fall, Nutting denied that the team was for sale. He did the same when Forbes’ Michael Ozanian reported that Nutting was preparing the team to be sold.
I won’t dispute that Nutting isn’t actively shopping the Pirates. Yet.
However, it seems certain he might have no choice but to put the Pirates on the market at some point to keep his family’s financial empire afloat. Nutting and his family have made the brunt of its fortune in the newspaper business. Newspapers, though, have suffered a double whammy in recent years. As the nation’s economic downturn helped take away a large chunk out of advertising revenue, the Internet siphoned off readers and caused circulation figures to fall.
While Ogden Newspapers is a privately held company and does not release public records, you don’t have to be Ben Bernanke to figure the company is either losing money or making a lot less profit than it once did.
Nutting also owns the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Somerset County. That, too, is a privately held company but those with direct knowledge of the resort’s finances claim Nutting has lost plenty of money in that venture.
It stands to reason that Nutting is going to need to get money from somewhere to offset his financial losses. The most logical thing to do to raise cash would be to sell the Pirates. http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=6c6add2a-...880152%2fV%3d2Forbes estimates the Pirates’ worth at $280 million, lowest among the 30 teams.
The validity of that number is questionable because Forbes has been known to be off with its valuations in the past. It is also difficult to believe the Pirates aren’t worth more than at least a few other franchises, even with a streak of 17 consecutive losing seasons.
The last time the Pirates were sold, the price tag was $95 million in 1996 when a group led by Kevin McClatchy purchased the team. Nutting eventually bought out enough minority partners in the group that he became majority owner and elbowed McClatchy out of the picture.
While the Pirates haven’t had a sniff of on-field success since Nutting took control of the franchise prior to the 2007 season, they have been exceptionally profitable. Those with knowledge of baseball financials generally project the Pirates have made $40 million in Nutting’s three full seasons in charge, a nifty trick for a franchise that was a combined 91 games under .500 during that span.
Then there is the case of the Major League Baseball Players Association continuing to monitor how the Pirates are utilizing their revenue-sharing money and checking to make sure they are not violating rules of the collective bargaining agreement between labor and management by pocketing the funds.
Furthermore, PNC is said to have at least looked into the idea of breaking its naming-rights deal for PNC Park because it is so embarrassed by the Pirates’ continual losing.
Adding to the factors of Nutting’s business holdings suffering and the Pirates being an attractive business opportunity as a cash cow, the conditions seem perfect for a sale.
Times sports correspondent John Perrotto is editor-in-chief of BaseballProspectus.com